


Secret Santa

by yarnandtea



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: 12 Days of Lorne, Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-04 17:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1083988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evan loves Atlantis' Secret Santa gift exchange. But this year he can't help going a little bit overboard. After all, when will he get another chance to shower the (secret) object of his affections with gifts?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Absolute and utter fluff. Terribly cliche-ridden. But still fun, I hope. I had a ball writing it!

"Oh, hell."

Evan blinked, then double checked the screen. The message hadn't changed. This year he was going to be playing Secret Santa for none other than Ronon Dex. He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, unmindful of how that made it stick up in all different directions. Of all of the people he could have gotten...he wouldn't have even expected Ronon to be participating in the Secret Santa exchange. Idly, Evan wondered if Sheppard had goaded him into it somehow. Or maybe Teyla. She probably _was_ participating. She enjoyed getting to take part in all of the various rituals that the expedition members from Earth held on to here in the Pegasus galaxy.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, he told himself. It wasn't every day such an excellent chance to do something special for Ronon landed in his lap, after all. Thoughts of _Ronon_ and _laps_ tried to stir up a whole new line of thinking, but Evan quickly quashed it. _That_ was not the purpose of Secret Santa. In fact, it dawned on him that he would have to be careful not to go overboard with whatever he did for Ronon. It was bad enough that he had a crush on the younger man. But so far he'd managed to keep those feelings hidden. It wouldn't do to let that particular cat out of the bag. He was under no illusion that he had any chance with Ronon. Even if Ronon let him down gently, Sheppard would never let him hear the end of it.

 "Well," he said, opening up the file attached to the message, "let's see what we've got then." He scanned over Ronon's Secret Santa form and had to laugh.

He shook his head ruefully, looking over the form again. If he'd had any doubts that Ronon had been pushed into signing up for the gift exchange, they were erased by Ronon's answers. Ronon was a terse guy under normal circumstances, and his disdain for paperwork--electronic or otherwise--was known throughout the city. He was also not the most open of people if he didn't know you, which might be part of his sparse answers. But given that the whole point of the form was to help your Secret Santa give you something you might actually want or like, well, Ronon didn't seem to be trying very hard.

\-----

**_ Interests _ **

_food, weapons, killing Wraith_

**_ Favorites _ **

_food, weapons_

**_ Dislikes _ **

_Wraith, Genii_

**_ Allergies? _ **

_no_

**_ Gift Wishes _ **

_food, books, surprise me_

\-----

Evan shook his head again, laughing softly when he read over "Genii" for the second time. "You and me both, buddy," he muttered. He sat back from his desk and ran his hand through his hair a second time. His eyebrows furrowed as he pondered what he actually knew about Ronon.

For starters, there was a lot more to the guy than his form indicated. Evan sighed. He would bet a good deal of money that the lack of detail was as much down to him not wanting to share information about himself with a stranger as his dislike of filling out forms. Maybe that was why Sheppard had matched him up with Evan. They weren't exactly friends--which was as much Evan trying to keep his distance as Ronon's own nature--but they worked together well, and they respected each other. They got along well enough when Evan was invited to do stuff with Sheppard's team, and he had picked up a few things, here and there.

Ronon had a sweet tooth, for one. Okay, so, maybe he could make him some cookies? He could probably scrounge together the ingredients for his mom's snickerdoodles recipe without too much trouble. Commandeering the kitchen to bake them wasn't likely to be an issue. The corner of his lips quirked up in a smile. There were some advantages to being the base XO. So, cookies for sure.

He frowned slightly. He couldn't go overboard, but cookies didn't seem like a whole lot. Especially considering that Ronon was unlikely to get presents from a lot of other people. Evan could do more for him than that. _Wanted_ to do more. Food, books, and a surprise, huh? He checked the message again. He had three days to get any requests for items from Earth submitted. Sheppard always sent out the signups and matches at least a month before the annual holiday party. That gave the participants a chance to either order things from Earth with enough time for the _Daedalus_ to bring them before the party, to find something in one of the off-world markets they had access to, or to make something themselves.

Ronon could eat a lot, so more food would probably be good. Evan got up from his chair and paced around his quarters. He could ask Teyla if there were any snacks that Ronon was partial to. She would know, and could be discreet. The same went with books. Easy enough to get Ronon a few things to read. As for the surprise, well...Evan paused, eyes landing on his balcony, where his most recent painting rested on the easel. _The only hard part there will be figuring out what to paint for him,_ he thought with a slow smile.

Mind made up, he willed the door open and left his quarters in search of Teyla. Halfway down the hall, he started whistling "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" without even realizing it.

 

* * *

 

The _Daedalus_ arrived exactly one week before Atlantis' annual holiday party, bringing with it an even larger cargo of personal deliveries than normal. Presents from home, for those who had families back on Earth. Presents ordered to give other people on the base. Secret Santa goodies.

Evan had been off-world when the ship turned up, but someone had put his packages in his quarters for him. After his mission debrief and a long shower, he fired up the soundtrack for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on his laptop and grabbed a beer from his mini-fridge before settling in to open the boxes. He hummed along to the music as he piled the presents from home under the small fake tree he had set up in his quarters. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as a real tree, but far better than nothing. He'd heard that Woolsey _had_ sent a team out to find a real pine tree for the holiday party though. No one but the party planning team had been allowed to see it, but he'd heard rumors that it was huge.

There weren't a lot of presents. A few small things from his mom, and one from his sister. A few very brightly and inexpertly wrapped gifts were clearly from his niece and nephew, who must have wrapped them themselves. He smiled at that, and wished he could be around to see them more. He couldn't imagine living anywhere other than Atlantis, but that didn't mean he didn't miss his family like crazy. He'd have to take some leave soon.

Peeking into the box, he found one more gift, though it wasn't wrapped. A bright yellow post-it note was affixed to the large flat box, and he plucked it up, smiling at his mother's handwriting. _Ev, you can go ahead and open this one now. I don't know if it's cold where you are this time of year, but just in case, I wanted you to have this. Enjoy! Love, Mom._

Curious, he pulled it out and lifted off the top of the box, brushing aside the red and green tissue paper. His face lit up as he pulled out the jacket. The rich, black leather gleamed in the lights from the Christmas tree, and he ran an admiring hand over the smooth surface. He shrugged into it eagerly and moved to the bathroom to see how it looked. _Not bad_ , he thought, winking at himself in the mirror. It fit like a glove. He had no idea how his mother did that, but he wasn't about to argue with the results. Too bad it wouldn't get that much use until his next leave. There wasn't that much reason to wear civvies out here.

_Party's civilian dress, though,_ he mused. Woolsey and Sheppard had been extremely clear about that in all of their memos on the subject. He smiled as he hung the jacket up in his closet. _Good time as any to break it in._

He turned to the second box that had been left in his rooms and a wide grin spread across his face. There were a few things for his team, along with Radek, Parrish, and Teyla. But most of the box was filled with things for Ronon. Evan leaned around the Christmas tree and plucked a Santa hat off the shelf behind it, fixing it firmly on his head before he opened the box. Might as well get all the presents wrapped now, he figured. He set to work, humming along to the music again.

An hour later, he stared at the pile of wrapped gifts in front of him, shaking his head in dismay. _Good job on not going overboard, Lorne_ , he chided himself. He bit his lip and glanced over them all. Between the beer and the chips and the popcorn and jerky and candy, Ronon was going to need a basket to carry all of his gifts home from the party. That wasn't even taking into account the books--a full set of all of the Dresden Files books to date, which was one of Evan's favorite series and had sounded like it might fall under the umbrella of things Ronon might like to read from Teyla's suggestions--or the cookies he was planning to bake the next day, _or_ the painting he was nearly done with.

"Jesus," he muttered. "I might as well run around the holiday party waving a banner that says I have the hots for the guy."

Oh, Sheppard was _never_ going to let him live this down. Neither was Teyla, he suspected, remembering the twinkle in her eyes when he'd asked her for gift suggestions. At the time he'd just thought it had been because his hair was looking so ridiculous--and _how_ had he made it out of his quarters without fixing that??--but now he wondered if it was because she had seen this coming. He was pretty sure she, at least, knew how he felt about Ronon.

He sighed, stacking up the gifts in a pile. At least he'd gotten the books in paperback. Even Ronon didn't need to be lugging around over a dozen hardcover books. Idly, he started sorting the presents into categories. Sweet, salty, beer, books...he tilted his head, a small frown of thought on his face. Aside from the books and painting, most of the gifts were pretty small. Just snacks, things Ronon could easily use up in a day or two, unless he wanted to save them. Maybe this wasn't as bad as Evan feared. There was a week until the party. Maybe he could spread the presents out?

A slow grin spread across his face and he checked the time. Ronon was scheduled to be training marines right now, although he should be done soon. Then he'd probably head to the mess for dinner. Evan looked over the pile once more and grabbed a few of the wrapped up snacks. He pulled a small gift tag from his stash of wrapping supplies and jotted down, "To: Ronon, From: Your Secret Santa." Then he turned to leave his quarters, already considering the best route to make it to Ronon's without being seen.

He did remember to take the Santa hat off before he got out the door, if only just barely.

 

* * *

 

And so the week progressed. Each day, Lorne dropped off another round of presents. Another perk of being the base XO was that he had access to everyone's training schedules. In between that and what he knew of Ronon's routine already, he was able to alternate his drop off times to make sure Ronon wasn't ever around when the gifts appeared.

He had cut it pretty close with the cookies on the second day, but he wanted Ronon to find them when they were fresh. They kept, sure, but they were so much better fresh. He dropped them off on his way to a meeting with Woolsey, and when he emerged from Woolsey's office, he was glad he had. Ronon was in the control room, leaning against a console while Sheppard tried to herd McKay into the conference room. He had the tin of cookies tucked under his arm and was munching on one with a satisfied grin. It was all Evan could do not grin himself as he passed by. He managed a respectful nod, which Ronon returned. As he climbed the stairs to the jumper bay, he heard McKay trying to wheedle a cookie from Ronon.

"Aw, come on, they smell delicious!"

"They are," Ronon agreed. "And they're mine."

"You can't bring cookies to a meeting and not share them with the whole team!"

"We're not in the meeting yet, McKay," Sheppard pointed out. "Maybe if you get your ass in the conference room, Ronon will decide to share."

"Maybe," Ronon drawled. "He's gotta ask nicely though. I don't think my Santa would want me sharing my cookies with someone who's not showing the proper holiday spirit."

Evan thought it sounded like he was laughing. He drew in a deep breath. Ronon laughing was a rare thing, at least where so many people could hear, and the sound went straight to his core. He had to forcibly remind himself to keep climbing the stairs.

"Oh for--you don't even know what the proper holiday spirit is!" McKay cried. Ronon didn't answer, but Sheppard laughed. Rodney grumbled under his breath and before Evan was out of earshot, he heard McKay add, "Fine! You guys suck."

Another round of laughter answered this. Evan managed to make it into the jumper bay before he let out his own chuckle. Well, at least he knew his gifts were appreciated. "My Santa," Ronon had said. It sent a warm flush through Evan. He liked the sound of that far too much.

After that, he couldn't help but try to find out Ronon's reactions to the rest of his gifts. From what he could tell, Ronon was enjoying the gift a day strategy. Two days before the holiday party, he passed Sheppard's team in the mess and had to fight to keep a smug smile from his face at the sight of Ronon happily eating a Twizzler.

"You know," McKay grumped at him as Evan walked by, "your Santa is making the rest of us look bad." He turned his wide blue eyes on Sheppard. "Isn't this against the rules or something?"

"There aren't really any rules for the Secret Santa, McKay," Sheppard drawled. He noticed Evan and winked. "Aside from keeping it secret."

"He's been taunting me with his food all week," McKay grumbled.

"Perhaps Ronon's Secret Santa is particularly fond of the season," Teyla suggested placidly. She noticed Evan as well and winked too. "It is possible they wish to spread that joy to Ronon as well. I believe there are others receiving several smaller gifts this week. Besides, I understand that it is the custom of your people to share treats and snacks throughout the season, is it not?"

McKay spluttered at this a bit, but it looked like he subsided in the wake of Teyla's logic. Evan continued on his way out of the mess, humming to himself as he got into the transport.

He dropped off the books early the next day, while Ronon was on his morning run with Sheppard. Sheppard's team was off duty for the next two days, and he thought it might give Ronon a chance to dive into the first one if he liked the sound of the series. He was a little nervous when he made his way to the mess for lunch, and even more so when he saw Sheppard's team already eating--without Ronon.

"Lorne!" Sheppard called, waving him over to take the empty seat. "Come sit with us."

Evan slid into the chair next to Teyla, and she shot him a warm smile. "Ronon not eating with you guys today?" Evan asked, trying to keep his tone light. Teyla's smile twitched, and her eyes twinkled.

"Nah, he just grabbed some grub and headed back to his quarters," Sheppard said with a smirk. "Said he wanted to read."

"Oh!" Evan blinked in surprise, and tried to clamp down the foolish grin that was forming on his face. It seemed the books had gone over well.

"I know!" McKay scoffed. "I couldn't believe it either." He shook his head, "But it seems his Secret Santa ran out of food and decided to give him _books_ instead. I can't imagine why though."

Evan rolled his eyes, and so did Sheppard. Teyla's own gaze narrowed and she gave McKay a disapproving look. "Rodney, you know very well that Ronon enjoys reading."

"Well of course _I_ do," McKay said, eyes going wide. "I just can't imagine anyone else figuring that out. It's not like he's part of a book club or anything."

Evan started to open his mouth but Teyla beat him to the punch. Arching one elegant eyebrow, she fixed McKay with a bland look and said, "Perhaps he _asked_ for books."

"Oh," McKay tilted his head as if this had only just occurred to him. "Maybe he did. That would make sense."

McKay seemed forget the matter entirely, turning his attention to Sheppard and launching into an account of his latest project. Something to do with making it easier to switch the puddle jumpers' cloaks into shields. Evan listened with half an ear, settling in to his meal. He did not miss the amused glances Sheppard kept shooting his way, though, or approving smile that Teyla gave him the next time Ronon was mentioned.

Yeah, those two were never going to let him live this down. Oh well. After tomorrow night, it would all be over. A part of him felt a little sad at that thought. He'd been enjoying surprising Ronon all week, and seeing how the younger man had appreciated the gifts. Thankfully, he didn't seem overwhelmed by them, or to think his Santa was doing too much. Instead, he was just having fun, which was what Evan had hoped for in the first place. He smiled softly to himself. And really, that was all that mattered, right? When would he get the chance to do so much nice stuff for Ronon without it seeming strange again? Best to enjoy it while it lasted.

 

* * *

 

Evan carefully placed Ronon's last present on the gift table, putting in the back where he could lean it against the wall and be reasonably sure no one would set anything on top of it. He straightened the bow on the parcel and hoped that Ronon would like it. He had spent over two weeks trying to figure out just what to paint for the man. Inspiration had finally struck when he was sitting on his balcony one night, staring at the stars instead of filling out the report he was supposed to be working on.

He loved looking at the night sky, always had. But since joining the Stargate program, the hobby had intensified. He always made sure to take a small sketchpad with him when he went off-world, and if he had the time, he drew the stars. They changed from world to world, galaxy to galaxy, but some of them were the same--they just looked different when their context changed. He was fascinated by that, and sometimes he would paint the skies that had made the biggest impact on him.

When Teyla had been on maternity leave, Evan had sometimes taken her place on Sheppard's team during missions, and one of those missions had been to Sateda. Ronon had been even more quiet than usual on that trip, but it had also been the occasion of one of the rare real conversations Evan had had with the man, short as it had been. He'd been sitting on the edge of camp and looking up at the stars, sketching them, when Ronon had silently stepped up beside him. Evan had felt the weight of his gaze, but he had been lost in his admiration of the mystery constellations, and hadn't said anything. If Ronon wanted to talk, he would. And he had.

"See that one? With the bright blue star, and then the green one?" He pointed up, tracing along the sky, drawing imaginary lines between the distant points of light. "It meets up with those to make a big cat, like your lions, or maybe tigers. We called that one the Huntress. I was born under those stars."

"Fitting," Evan had answered softly.

Ronon had turned to him, eyes glinting in the starlight, shadows from the campfire dancing across his face, one side of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "Maybe so," he agreed. Evan's breath had caught and it had been all he could do to focus on Ronon's next words. "Even though this isn't my world anymore, I can't help but feel like I'm _home_ , looking up at the Huntress from Satedan soil."

Evan had nodded in understanding, and Ronon had fallen back into silence. He'd sat there staring at the sky, a warm presence against the night's chill, while Evan finished up his sketch. He'd lightly filled in the line that Ronon had made between the stars, and Ronon had nodded in approval when Evan showed it to him.

Just a simple little moment between fellow soldiers. But it had stuck with Evan. That was maybe the sort of thing you shared with friends, he thought, or someone more than a friend. For days afterward, he'd get a warm feeling in his chest every time he remembered the conversation. It had been easy enough, even years later, for him to call up exactly how the Satedan sky had looked that night. In between his memories and his sketch, he thought he'd managed to paint an accurate image. Just the faintest trace of light against the darkness, call it starshine, connected the stars in the Huntress, giving the image of a big cat stalking her prey. He knew Ronon would recognize what it was meant to be, at least.

The low buzz of conversation brought Evan back to the repurposed mess hall, and he glanced around, not yet seeing a gift with his name, before moving on to the drink table. His eyebrows shot up when he got close enough to recognize the sweet and pungent scent of Athosian mead. Closer inspection revealed that there was, in fact, a barrel of it in the center of the table, already tapped with a spigot for handy pouring. He shook his head slowly in disbelief. No one had tried to have that particular drink at a staff party since Dr. Weir's tenure. In fact, Elizabeth had flat out banned it after the prank that Sheppard and McKay had attempted to pull on the botanists. They'd been cleaning up the resulting mess for _weeks_. He laughed softly. Clearly, no one had bothered to tell Woolsey about the incident, and someone on the party planning committee was trying to ensure the evening's festivities would not be dull.

Across the room, he noticed Teyla, and she smiled when she saw him. She arched one eyebrow in amusement and raised her glass of mead to him in salute. Beside her, Kanaan was peering closely at the Christmas tree, eyes wide in bewilderment, while Torren was busy running around his parents' legs. Someone had given him a Santa hat, and it was sitting on his head at a jaunty angle. Evan laughed again, louder, and grabbed a bottle of beer from the table, raising it to Teyla in turn as he moved on to the next table. He wasn't going anywhere near that mead, having more than learned his lesson the first time he drank some. The Athosians had damn hardy constitutions, that was for sure. Behind him, he heard the melodic sound of Teyla's laughter, and a grin spread across his face.

The party went by in a happy haze. Evan spent most of it moving between Teyla's family, Parrish, and Radek. Parrish had not learned his lesson about the mead, and to Evan's amusement, he fell asleep halfway through the night. Better a sleepy drunk than a belligerent one though, Evan figured as he tasked a few airmen to carry the sleeping scientist to his quarters. Kanaan disappeared with Torren around the same time, and Evan fell in with Teyla and Radek to watch Woolsey's growing dismay at the drunken shenanigans that the mead was leading to as the evening wore on.

Of course, he kept one eye on Ronon for most of the night. Technically, people were supposed to grab their Secret Santa gift  from the table when they left the party, if they hadn't already gotten it before then. But by this point, most people had already found theirs and opened it at their table, and some Santas had handed over their gifts in person. Evan knew he shouldn't be so anxious to see Ronon open his painting, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to miss his reaction if Ronon decided not to wait. He'd already retrieved the gift, but so far, it was resting unopened on the table where he was sitting with McKay. The pair of them were happily making their way through plates piled high with party food, and watching with growing amusement as a very drunk Sheppard tried to convince Woolsey to dance with him.

Sheppard hadn't learned his lesson about the mead either.

He'd been steadily working his way through everyone at the party, and most had been amused enough to let the colonel spin them around the clear space in the middle of the room once or twice. But Woolsey was having none of it. Eventually, Dr. Keller took pity on them both and stepped in to ask Sheppard for the next dance. He grinned at her in delight and let her lead him away from Woolsey. Evan couldn't help but notice that the expedition leader made a hasty retreat from the mess as soon as Sheppard's back was turned.

"I guess he's had enough partying for one night," Evan laughed.

"It would seem so," Teyla agreed with a grin. She heaved a mock sigh and said, "I fear that this means our mead will be banned for the next few years again."

"It is a shame," Radek said, and Evan realized his sigh was genuine. He raised his eyebrows as the diminutive man finished off his cup--Evan was pretty sure it was at least his sixth--and stared at the bottom of it before blinking and looking at both of them again. He looked completely sober. "This really is a delicious drink."

"Remind me to never get into a drinking contest with you, Doc," Evan said.

Radek grinned widely at him and Teyla laughed. She patted him on the arm. "I am sure I can get a small cask just for you the next time I visit New Athos, Dr. Zelenka. It should be easy enough to sneak it into the city."

Radek beamed at her and said something appreciative in Czech. He set his cup down on a nearby table and held out a hand to Teyla, a clear invitation to dance. Evan watched as they made their way to the floor and then wandered over to the drink table again. He grabbed another beer and then, seeing that most people were either chatting in small groups or dancing, found a nice out of the way corner to lean in and observe. He wasn't really in the mood for talking or dancing. He just wanted to enjoy the vibe of everything being nice and pleasant and more or less calm for once. That was a rare thing in Atlantis, and combined with the Christmas lights twinkling all over the place and the music, it had a warm, magical effect on him. He wanted to just drift in it for a while.

It didn't take long for his eyes to find Ronon again. They widened when he realized that Ronon was opening his present at last. He took a long pull of his beer and then pursed his lips nervously as Ronon looked at the painting, his face blank. After a long moment, Evan saw a small smile quirk up the corners of Ronon's lips and he felt himself relax. He hadn't bothered to sign the card on the gift. Either Ronon would remember the conversation and put it together with Evan's love of painting to figure out the identity of his Secret Santa, or he wouldn't, and Evan would remain anonymous.

McKay was peering over Ronon's shoulder to look at the painting now too. He looked puzzled, but then Ronon traced something on the canvas and McKay squinted as if to get a better look. He rolled his eyes after a few minutes, prompting a shrug and an amused smile from Ronon. He must have figured out that Evan was behind the painting though, because he said something and McKay's eyes narrowed. He whipped his head around the room, and then pointed in Evan's direction, muttering something. He rolled his eyes again and got up from the table.

Evan sighed, realizing he was found out. Ronon craned around in his seat and caught sight of him as well. Evan raised his bottle in Ronon's direction and mouthed "Happy holidays!" at him. Ronon grinned and got up as well. Evan's eyebrows shot up when he realized Ronon was walking over to him. He straightened slightly and tried to keep the nervousness from his expression.

"Thanks, Lorne," Ronon said when he reached Evan. "It'll be nice to have a piece of home with me here."

"I hoped you'd like it," Evan said with a small shrug.

"Thanks for everything though." He laughed. "It was fun getting to tease McKay all week, and I'm liking this wizard Dresden so far."

"Glad I could help," Evan laughed back. "I might have gotten carried away, but it's fun to be Santa sometimes."

"Yeah." Ronon's grin widened. "Can see where it would be." He reached into his vest and pulled out a small parcel, holding it out to Evan.

"What?" Evan stared at the package, uncomprehending.

"I guess Sheppard got lazy matching up the Santas," Ronon said with a laugh. "I got you too."

Evan's eyebrows shot up. He knew for a fact that Sheppard had checked the list repeatedly to make sure that _didn't_ happen. He'd complained about it at length one afternoon. But somehow...a bit dazed, he reached out and accepted the gift. The tips of his fingers brushed Ronon's and his skin felt as if it had touched flame where there'd been contact. _It's still warm from being in his vest_ , he thought idly. Curiosity burning through him, he undid the simple wrapping job--just plain blue paper, but neat and precise--to reveal a smooth leather bundle, tied at one side with a strip of rawhide. He lobbed the wrapping paper at a nearby trash can and undid the tie. The bundle rolled open to reveal a set of beautifully carved colored pencils, each tucked into its own pocket. There was also a small blade for sharpening the pencils, and a few sticks of charcoal.

Evan looked back up at Ronon, awestruck. He was surprised to realize that the other man looked nervous and smiled at him. "This is amazing. Thank you," he said quietly.

Ronon beamed at him. "I know you paint, yeah. But when I realized you like to sketch on missions sometimes, I thought you might like a good travel set of pencils. It's not much bigger than your sketchpad when it's folded up. That should fit in your gear without any trouble."

Evan's smile widened and he glanced back down at the pencils, carefully rolling the case back up and tying it shut. It was very well crafted. Not from Earth. Ronon had to have found it in one of the off-world markets.  "It will fit," he agreed. He risked glancing up again, hoping he had his face under control. "Thank you. I'll look forward to trying them out." He already had a pretty good idea of what his first subject would be.

They looked at each other for a few moments. Evan tried furiously to think of something else to say, worried that Ronon would wander off. But he seemed content to hang out. After a while, he gestured at Evan, reaching out to tap him on the arm. "Nice jacket. Leather works for you."

"Thanks," Evan said, surprised.

"You made those cookies?"

Evan blinked at the quick change in topic, then tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah." He smiled and shrugged. "I like to bake. Don't get to do it very often here, but this seemed like a good excuse."

"They were really good." He sighed. "Already ate them all though."

Evan couldn't help himself. "Could always make you some more, sometime," he drawled. " _If_ you ask nicely," he winked and took a pull from his beer.

Ronon laughed softly and then opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by Sheppard, who had wandered by and suddenly called out, "For Pete's sake, just kiss him already!"

Evan choked on his beer.

Then he almost fell over when Ronon pounded on his back. He got himself under control, but avoided looking at Ronon, knowing he was as red as a tomato. _What the hell, Sheppard?_ He risked a peek at Ronon, wondering if he should be making a hasty exit, but to his surprise the other man looked just as embarrassed. Which was quite interesting when combined with the way he was glaring at Sheppard.

McKay had appeared out of nowhere and was dragging Sheppard in the opposite direction, muttering. "Oh my _god_ , Sheppard. What the hell is wrong with you? How drunk are you? I cannot _believe_ you are the person they let be in charge of all of the people with guns in this place." Evan laughed despite himself. It was always amusing to see one of McKay's tirades aimed at someone else. McKay raised his voice, adding, "Oh look! There's Jennifer and Carson. They're waving us over. I think they want to dance."

This seemed to have the desired effect. Sheppard perked right up and stopped fighting McKay's attempts to steer him. "Carson! You wanna dance?"

Evan shook his head and glanced at Ronon, forgetting his own embarrassment for a split second. "So, um..."

"I believe John was referring to that," said a soft voice behind them. Evan jumped. When the hell had Teyla shown up? He glanced where she was pointing and his eyes widened. Teyla fixed him with a polite expression and in an innocent tone asked, "Is it not a tradition among your people to exchange kisses when caught under the mistletoe together?"

She sounded a little _too_ innocent, Evan thought. He narrowed his eyes at her. She smiled blandly at him, but her eyes were twinkling. He glanced back at Ronon. He wasn't sure what he expected to find in his face. _Hope_ certainly hadn't been in the running. But he could not deny that was what he saw. A slow grin spread over his face. Sheppard _had_ to have matched the two of them up on purpose, and Evan couldn't imagine him doing that without a reason. Like trying to play matchmaker, perhaps?

Maybe Evan's crush wasn't so unfounded after all. Teyla saw him figure it out and nodded slightly to both of them before slipping away, as silently as she had arrived.

"Mistletoe, right," Evan said. He carefully set his beer and pencils on the window ledge behind him and turned back to Ronon. He winked again. "It _is_ tradition after all."

Ronon grinned. He didn't bother answering. Instead he just reached out, seizing the sides of Evan's jacket and pulling him in close, leaning down to bring their lips together. Evan sighed into the kiss and slid his hands around Ronon's neck, cradling the back of his head. Ronon tasted like candy canes and beer, and Evan laughed against his lips.

They finally pulled apart, and Evan's head was swimming as he tried to catch his breath. Ronon didn't step back but instead leaned in closer, whispering in Evan's ear. "Wanna get out of here, Lorne? Maybe go somewhere we can talk alone?"

"Oh, hell _yes_ ," Evan answered. He stole another kiss and grinned. "Let's go."

They slipped out the nearest door, and if Evan blushed when the sound of Sheppard crowing "I knew it!" followed them out, well, so did Ronon. He'd take that for a good sign.


End file.
